


Solitude

by sariloire



Series: Ashae Lavellan [31]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, hopefully, i'll get back to normal soon, so it may be stiff, this is the first thing i've written since some stuff happened a week or two ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 15:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5339165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariloire/pseuds/sariloire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Solas enjoys his solitude, but some things are more enjoyable than his peace and quiet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solitude

Solas liked his solitude.

He knew that that was the reason he was not often bothered in his chosen place, the rotunda. He was free to read, study, think, anything he wanted to do. Almost no one bothered him there, except for Dorian at times when he felt Solas was too quiet for too long. And sometimes he handled that problem by fetching the Inquisitor instead of approaching Solas himself.

Solas couldn’t pretend that he minded when that was the case, though. And today was one of those times.

Ashae had just returned the previous day from eight days in the field without him. Solas had worked out, with the help of Dorian, that he was becoming too attached to the Inquisitor, and had promised himself that he would do whatever it took to distance himself from her in the future. His ultimate mission could not be compromised because of the beautiful elf sitting across his desk from him at this very moment.

He had spent the last half hour stealing glances at Ashae over the top of his book as she sat silently reading. She had told him, when she first walked into the rotunda, that she was merely there to get away from the vast amount of work that her advisors had waiting for her after being gone so long. Solas had accepted that reasoning, though the longer they sat in comfortable silence reading, the more his mind wandered to other reasons she could have chosen to share a desk with him instead of hiding out in the tavern or atop the battlements.

There had been no mention of their kiss in the Fade since the morning after it, when he had asked Ashae to give him some time to think about the possibility of a relationship. He hadn’t needed time, his mind was screaming at him to keep his distance from the moment he had begun to realize his feelings for Ashae. But his heart wanted nothing more than to reach across the desk at that moment and pull her close and continue where they had left off in the Fade.

Ashae wasn’t one to hold back her opinions or general feelings on matters, he had soon learned. She had not gone out of her way to hide that she cared for him, though he wasn’t sure of the extent of her feelings. The softer smiles she reserved for him, the way her eyes found his when she entered a room he was in, the playful brush of her hand against his when she handed him something.

None of it had gone unnoticed, to say the least.

But there had been no pressure from her to start a relationship, and he was grateful for her respect of his boundaries. If he could only talk his heart into respecting the boundaries his mind had proposed, he would have nothing to worry about.

He had allowed himself to embrace Ashae while he was recovering from finding that his friend Wisdom had been tortured, and subsequently watching the spirit essentially die. She had brought him a cake, and he had allowed himself a moment of comfort in her arms.

But there had been nothing else.

Except, perhaps, a small amount of playful banter here and there, veiled flirting exchanged between the both of them.

A few late nights of the two of them sharing stories and reading until one of them began to fall asleep and they parted company.

Shared conversations on the battlements during the day, walking and talking for whatever free time Ashae could afford to take.

His heart beating painfully hard in his chest every time she smiled at him.

“Solas?” He blinked rapidly at the sound of his name, realizing that Ashae had caught him staring at her across the desk. There was a playful smile on her lips as she returned his gaze as she set the book she was reading down on the desk. “You were looking at me so intently, is something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all.” He wasn’t going to show his embarrassment for being caught staring, so he returned his gaze to the book in his hands. But after a minute or two of his ears burning, he glanced up and found Ashae watching him this time, her smile still there, but with a curious expression on her face. “Something wrong?” He echoed, trying to make his voice sound casual even though he was fighting to force words together at the look in her eyes.

“Nothing at all.” She quipped, leaning across the table to extract the book from his hands. She carefully marked the place and set it on the desk, moving around the table to stand in front of him. “I believe we’ve studied these texts long enough, want to get some dinner with me?”

Solas looked at her outstretched hand. His mind was repeating _‘no, bad idea, no’_ in rapid succession.

He looked up at Ashae’s expectant smile, at the way that her eyes glinted and how the skin around them crinkled in the corners as she tucked a piece of her hair behind an ear.

Solas enjoyed his solitude yes.

But, as he took her hand and allowed himself to be pulled from his chair, he knew that he enjoyed some people’s company even more.

**Author's Note:**

> [The fic linked here takes place the day before the 'Solitude' fic you're reading.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5337380)   
> 
> 
> [The fic linked here is where Ashae gives Solas the cake to make him feel better.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5337233)


End file.
